Luke

My specialist experience teaching students with SEN to develop trusting and meaningful relationships: I have worked with students with SEN and learning needs for twenty years and as a qualified teacher for over a decade. I have worked in specialist SEN school provisions as well as working closely with medical schools. I have delivered specialist home learning SEN tuition in my previous roles before deciding to become a full-time specialist SEN tutor for the last five years of my career. I feel very strongly that all students deserve the best education possible. I love the challenge of working one to one and with the added complexity that SEN needs bring to the planning parts of teaching. I enjoy finding resources and strategies that engage students who have had previous challenges within the education system. All children in essence are the same. They have curiosities and passions and I find it very rewarding to lean on their interests to help make them a more well-rounded student.

My experience supporting young people with sensory needs: It is vital when working with students with sensory needs to plan the classroom and resources in advance. Sensory needs for my students are not just an issue in the classroom, they impact every part of their daily lives. It is important to recognise this and to plan appropriate starter activities that help to calm and place my students in a relaxed state. I have completed meditation and mindfulness activities with some of my previous students who have had sensory needs. It is about helping my students to manage their sensory needs at all times so that they can access as much of the learning in our sessions as possible. My tone of voice can be calming or monotone if/when required. My resources can clear and basic in format and can be combined with external helpful measures such as noise cancelling headphones or darkened rooms. I have carried out breath work with some of my previous sensory students and yoga to help manage their anxiety in lesson. Working with sensory needs students in the past has led me to build individual learning plans developed alongside parent and carers with my students needs and requirements at centre of each planning decision that we make.

My experience teaching young people with SEMH and challenging behaviour: With a background of working in mainstream schools and pupil referral units, I have strong experience working with students with a variety of social, emotional and mental health needs. Consistency is key, as is patience and the ability to tailor support so that students are constantly given the opportunity to reach success points in their learning. For my SEMH students, all resources are personalised to reflect their interests as much as possible helping to show that the curriculum can be flexible and moved towards topics of their interest. Making sure that my students feel that they are in control of their learning and that they are listened to has helped in establishing productive working relationships with children coming from some of the most difficult backgrounds imaginable.

My skills and experience supporting students to develop their independence: A teacher’s role is to be a guide that over time, slowly fades into the background whilst the student takes over and becomes a fully-fledged, independent learner. At every step, I will encourage my students to take control over their own learning. This starts from our very first session together when my students take time to set their own goals and objectives of what they want to achieve. This helps them to take ownership of their own learning. I have found it to be a very powerful tool as the students feel more emotionally invested in their work and learning as they are working towards their own goals.

During my sessions I also like to employ reciprocal teaching as much as possible. Reciprocal teaching is a form of active learning where students are engaged in a student-centred lesson. It centres around the premise of students learning the ‘fab four’ learning strategies of questioning, clarifying, summarising, and predicting. Students take on a variety of roles within an activity and move towards leading the activity by the end of the session. Other independence strategies I also use may include allowing choice within activities as well as helping my students to actively plan our future activities together. A strong focus is also placed on encouraging reflection and time management skills.

My specialist experience teaching autistic students: My teaching strategies depend entirely on the needs of my students. With my students with ASD, I may limit sensory overload points of conflict during our sessions or provide visual aids to show the learning running order. This sometimes helps my students to feel safe in the knowledge that they know the structure of each lesson before it begins. I may use rewards and incentives that can be tied in with a home rewards programme to culture a closer crossover between home and education. All of my ASD students have their own way of self-regulating and it is important for me to compliment what already works for my students. The notion of fairness and a strong focus on not deviating from the planned activities is something that I know has helped my students with ASD to lower their anxiety levels. Change can be very scary for ASD students. A careful, empathetic approach is often the best way to be when building a new working relationship with a new student but I think it is especially important when working with ASD students. There are many triggers and barriers to learning that you will often meet before ultimately succeeding. I try to be as predictable and methodical as possible during our sessions. Additional work may be spent on inference and understanding the meaning of sub text or maybe we would spend time working on connecting facial expressions with emotions. My ASD students have all been so wonderfully complex and forthright with their opinions of what they need to succeed. I have always found their honesty refreshing and really helpful when it comes to the planning and delivery of my lessons.

My specialist experience teaching students with complex needs: When working with students with processing difficulties, ‘less is more’ is a theme that runs through all my planning. Providing instructions one at a time is also complimented by visual step by step directions that are either built into the lesson or in the form of a visual place mat to be printed out and placed on the student’s desk. The use of plenty of examples is also encouraged to help solidify learning as well highlighting keywords or using vocabulary that is familiar to the student. In addition to this, my planning will always focus on key messaging of the key concepts interwoven into small chunked activities to allow for my students to really engage with their learning.

My specialist experience teaching students with working memory needs: When working with students with working memory needs, I have often focused initially on the building and development of routines for us to follow. The use of checklists as we work through our lessons has also been a helpful visual aid for my students. I make sure that we practice our general working memory through a variety of games and challenges. I will reduce the need to multi task during lessons and will focus more so on visualisation skills. I will try to make my students make connections with their work to the real world and make sure that our lessons are as multi-sensory as possible. I will also let my students be the teachers and lead activities and tell me what works for them in terms of remembering information as well as encouraging experimentation to find out if we can find new undiscovered ways to help them with their working memory.

My experience working with young people to boost their social skills: Working as a tutor to boost the confidence and self-esteem of young people is a key part of the role. I have seen the transformative power of education and mentorship. Helping students to overcome self-doubt and to feel good about themselves and their learning is a major driving force that motivates me to work in education. I strive to create a nurturing environment where students can embrace challenges and grow in confidence and self-belief. This newfound confidence extends beyond academics, enabling them to confront life’s hurdles with resilience. Building strong relationships with my students is pivotal. Understanding their unique strengths and tailoring teaching methods fosters trust and open communication. Being part of their journey, helping them realise their potential, and developing their self-esteem so that can be ready to take on the challenges of their future.  

My specialist experience teaching functional maths: Whilst working as a numeracy intervention teacher, I have worked with a variety of students who have built up a barrier towards their numeracy work based on past educational experiences. Maths is a subject of seeking patterns and I work on teaching this principle to my maths students. Interventions include focusing learning on games and turn based activities and building confidence through scaffolded learning. I will usually lead the learning before slowly withdrawing my input until the student is completing their maths work completely independently. The use of repetition and the visual breakdown of multi step methods help my students to become more resilient when facing maths problems. Lots of my maths resources and learning materials are built and anchored to something that my students are interested and passionate about. I use a variety of real world use cases so that we can take abstract maths concepts and relate them to our everyday lives.

My specialist experience providing functional English – reading and writing support, study skills and exam preparation; I began leading GCSE and functional literacy intervention classes during my time working in mainstream education. As with all teaching and learning, thorough initial assessment needs to take place before we can build a roadmap to success. Once my student’s literacy levels have been ascertained, I would then begin to strip back the subject of English to its core purpose which is the ability to communicate with others, to express our thoughts and ideas as well as learn new things. I work closely with my students to find out their interests before building resources and lessons that merge their passions and curiosities. The teaching strategies I would employ are solely dependent on my students. I use a host of literacy techniques such as word analysis, phonics refreshment, guided reading, debating topics, the use of writing frames as well as using reciprocal teaching strategies to get my students to constantly question, summarise information, predict and clarify our learning content. Deep work is carried out all the way up until GCSE English level. We start by understanding exactly what the examiner is looking for. What does the exam command word mean and how we should approach it in a logical, almost mechanical manner. The use of scaffolded writing frames are initially used to guide the student to answer exam questions accurately before slowly stripping away the support. This leaves my students being able to complete exam answers in the exact way that the marking scheme is looking for.

My skills and experience supporting students with speech and language needs: I have supported a multitude of students with speech and language needs. Cultivating a supportive learning environment is the first step in helping students overcome their communication challenges. Lessons are made visual with information being chunked into smaller bite size pieces. Key messages are allowed time to filter through whilst my students are given plenty of time to think and respond. The use of pictures, books, objects or real world events can be used to stimulate language development. Leveraging my student’s interests plays a huge role in trying to anchor learning though points of interest. The modelling of correct vocabulary and grammar reinforced through repetition exercises also helps to build language skills. Working closely with parents, speech therapists and other professionals to ensure that my students benefit from a whole team approach to their learning. A level of empathy and positive encouragement throughout our sessions, making sure to celebrate our learning successes as well as building upon them.

My specialist experience teaching students with ADD/ADHD: I have had the opportunity of working with many different students who have been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD. What is important to recognise is that all students with ADD/ADHD are unique and will require a personally planned approach to their education. The use of simple, clear, and direct language is the starting point of my communication with my ADD/ADHD students. To engage my ADD/ADHD students, I would always keep my lessons ‘snappy’ and to the point. Lessons will use a variety of approaches to always keep my students on their toes. Visual aids, hands-on activities and breaking down work into smaller, more manageable pieces often works well during our sessions. Opportunities to build on my students interests and passions coupled with clear and consistent routines help my students to manage their behaviour. The opportunity for my students to have a sense of control in lesson by way of choosing which learning activities they would like to engage with also helps us move towards our learning goal. Positive reinforcement and celebrating successes, however small are vital in engaging and seeing progress from my ADD/ADHD students. Competitive games and timed activities can also spark a pupil’s engagement as they try to beat their best score whilst working on their focus skills under timed conditions.

My specialist experience teaching students with anxiety; Anxiety can be crippling to the learning journey of all that have difficulties with this side of mental health. I help my students with anxiety by creating a coping toolbox of ideas and resources that my students can turn to if they start to feel overwhelmed in lesson. A thoughtful, empathetic approach is of course a perquisite for all students with anxiety. The ability to establish a positive teacher student working relationship is vital as is the validation of my students’ feelings. Working closely with parents/carers for insight into how best to support their child in times of internal conflict as well as respecting their feelings but trying not to empower them. It is important to always set positive and realistic expectations, making sure to celebrate all successes that transpire along the way. Mindfulness, positive affirmations and a variety of other calming strategies can be used to further help my students to slowly but surely develop and grow as learners. A flexible and adaptive approach to all learning, creating a safe space and a supportive online environment can help students to begin to make steady progress. Working on a system of gradual exposure to different learning situations is also a method to help slowly ease my students with anxiety back into a supportive learning environment.

My specialist experience teaching science: Teaching science allows me to help my students think analytically about the world around them. Problem solving is at the heart of science and the subject teaches us how to solve problems. The ability for my students to carry out practical investigations based on their theories can really bring the learning to life. Science has helped my students to develop their communication skills as well as supporting their interest in other STEM learning activities. Science can be as practical as you wish and my students have benefitted from seeing the curriculum come to life through watching and participating in a range of exciting practicals. Whether we are examining a specific habitat or ecosystem or looking at the organelles within a cell, science allows for us to ask questions and seek answers.

My specialist experience providing engaging sessions to inspire a love of learning: I am a skilled communicator and relationship builder having forged strong relationships with some of the most disaffected young people during my time teaching across the boroughs of London. Learning cannot be a chore. There is so much wonder and knowledge that needs to be pursued. I endeavour to make all of my lessons captivate my students and give them all the level of education that they deserve. I teach with personality and like most dedicated teachers, I am not against going to any lengths necessary to engage with my students, no matter how silly the requests have been over the years! My lessons are always filled with games and activities that reinforce learning. Quizzes, creative activities, world news and current affairs, independent learning that includes passion based project work are all built into my lessons as a matter of course. Whatever my students are interested in, I can build a cross curricular sequence of lessons to build on their interests. I am constantly building lessons based on my students’ favourite sports teams, musical artists or computer games. It’s one of the main parts of teaching that I enjoy, finding and building resources that I think will engage my students. As much as possible, irrespective of my student’s needs, I will try to make our learning an adventure with suitable challenges along the way.

My specialist experience helping young people to develop study skills/executive functioning skills: My students with executive function have benefited from a variety of teaching and study techniques that can help them to stay on task with regards to their learning. In the past I have used visual daily schedules that we tick off as we complete our lessons. Clear and consistent routines are followed at all times to help cultivate a structured learning environment. Mind maps to organise our in lesson thoughts as well as always breaking down larger projects into smaller, more manageable chunks. Our executive function abilities are the cornerstone of of learning and self management. I use a variety of resources in the form of games and activities to strengthen my students ability to think, plan and organise. Working with visible timers in lesson to aid with time management as well as making our online workspace a carefully curated area to foster learning and progression.

My specialist experience teaching students dyslexia: Dyslexia is a common area of SEN education that I have encountered with many of my previous students. I may follow a multi-sensory learning approach. I help my students to organise their thoughts using a mind map or other creative ways of engaging with the learning. It is important to build confidence when working with students with dyslexia and I make sure that all successes are celebrated, and no positive experience goes unnoticed. All new language is broken down into smaller, more manageable chunks. The use of flashcards, real objects and story videos have all been used during my tutoring sessions. The ability to view an object of discussion or touch it combined with moving physically around the space or using gestures have also worked with my previous students. The ability for my learners to have choice within our sessions is important as it makes the learning more meaningful and inclusive. I will also often use concept-checking questions (CCQs) to check learners’ understanding. For example, instead of asking students “Do you understand the meaning of a word?” I would ask them to give examples to demonstrate the learning has occurred.

My specialist experience teaching students with visual impairments: The use of visual aids provided before lessons has been a way to help my students with visual impairments. Some of my previous students have used screen reader software, reading with magnification, and have always benefited from being supplied with resources before the lesson begins. Making sure to keep the resources I use clear and concise also helps to guide the learner through the lesson. It is important to talk directly with my students to build and develop a suite of resources that can maximise their learning experience. The use of audiobooks can bring literacy to life without the need for reading during our sessions. Adequate additional time is also given to complete tasks if necessary as well as adapting and building bespoke resources for each of my learners with visual impairments.

My experience as a learning mentor to help young people fulfil their potential; Learning mentors are equally as important as teachers, arguably more so. The ability to offer guidance and to support young people across the entirety of their learning journey is vitally important. I have always merged the role of a learning mentor with my career as a teacher. I am there to help all of my students to learn new skills, gain knowledge and develop their abilities in whatever discipline they wish to pursue. I have previously helped students with community projects outside of the national curriculum remit as well as working towards securing exciting work experience opportunities. Being on hand to help my learners achieve their goals is of paramount importance to me. I spend time teaching general learning strategies such as growth mindset techniques and the ability to work towards SMART objectives. I have built self esteem and motivation sessions from the ground up specifically targeted at helping my students to fulfil their potential. I have been there every step of the way from building a positive relationship with my students to withdrawing and seeing my students complete tasks independently with great satisfaction.  I am always on hand to help my learners to build the confidence and self esteem that will act as the foundation support for them to build successful personal and professional lives in the future.

My skills and experience supporting students with OCD: OCD has the power to really intrude on a students learning. The ability to reduce stress at all times as well as having strategies in place to manage stress is key. Working closely with parents and carers to understand triggers as well as working together to have a set plan in place to help support my students with their learning even through crisis moments. Brain breaks and movement breaks have worked well with my students who have OCD as has mindfulness and other calming techniques. Teaching from a place of patience and care to help my students develop coping skills that will help them move towards gaining more positive experiences in their education is fundamental.

My skills and experience supporting students with dyspraxia: When working with my dyspraxia students, flexibility is key as is developing a personalised learning journey that helps them to fully access their education. All materials and resources are carefully selected as is the use of personalised visual aids within lessons. Plenty of alternatives to writing are offered with a focus on engagement to stimulate progress. Movement breaks and small chunked activities help to break up the lesson into more manageable pieces, making sure that my students do not become overwhelmed or frustrated during lesson time.

My experience supporting young people with PDA: A key starting point for me when I work with students with PDA is to build a positive relationship. Initially, I spend time getting to know my students, their passions, curiosities, and strengths. I listen and plan initial sessions around their interests, building in elements of the national curriculum as stealthily as possible. I make sure that I also have multiple options for each segment of my lessons. It is important not to draw a line in the sand with my PDA students. I am ever flexible and willing to constantly change tack to allow my students to make progress. I make sure that the environment that I create is predictable so that my PDA students feel safe and in control. Routine is also important to reduce any level of anxiety that may exist. It is essential to never confront or use direct language with my PDA students. Instead, I always use indirect language so that I am always asking my PDA students to take control and make a learning choice on their own terms. Positive reinforcement is used to motivate and engage my students coupled with constantly incorporating their interests into our lessons. I have found the use of role-playing games and social stories to be particularly useful in helping my PDA students to also improve their social and communication skills.

My experience supporting students who learn English as an additional or second language (EAL/ESL): Simplified language, the use of repetition and visuals is the format that I use to underpin my EAL sessions. Pictures, diagrams, and videos are a great way to help students understand new vocabulary and concepts more easily. I make sure that I use simplified language throughout, as well speaking slowly and clearly for the duration of our sessions. Context is also incredibly important and something that can sometimes be overlooked. I use a wealth of examples to anchor my EAL students learning with real life examples or scenarios they may encounter. Repetition, repetition, repetition is also key in helping students to learn new vocabulary. My lessons are packed with opportunities and activities that allow my students to practice using their newfound language skills. Speaking and listening activities are vital in allowing my EAL students to actively participate during our lessons. My lessons are sequential in terms of my planning and delivery meaning that that each lesson follows on from the previous one, allowing my students to constantly be building on their prior knowledge. It also helps the lessons feel like there is a seamless transition between them or that they are in fact just one lesson that is divided into smaller pieces. Constant positive feedback is also given to my students during our time together.

My experience supporting young people by delivering a personalised whole school curriculum: Since becoming a specialist SEN tutor, I have worked with several students where I have been their sole educational point of contact. Having one teacher that delivers the whole curriculum offering is a primary school feature of the UK school system, but I have also found that it works extremely well in the SEN niche of education. The student will only need to build rapport once with a teacher, will only need to engage with one classroom routine and one rewards system. It also has the great benefit of giving the teacher additional time with the student that can be used to accelerate the rapport building process between the two parties. This is often the initial barrier to progress. I have had great success in teaching students’ multiple subjects. It helps to add variety during our sessions and a great way to change the pace or the focus of a lesson if/when required. I have worked across the key stages and have delivered most subjects up until GCSE level.